Hart Side

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Summited August 2023

Home › Fells › Hart Side

756 mWainwright — Eastern Fells+10 bonus Birketts within 3 km Serious in Clag

Hart Side at 756m (2,480ft) is a broad, grassy summit between Stybarrow Dodd and the Ullswater shoreline, giving commanding views over the eastern shores of the lake and across to the High Street range.

Summit conditions on Hart Side

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 4°C, gusts to 62 mph, 20.0 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.

Against our lines, Tuesday 27 October: wind, cold and cloud from the Met Office UKV 2 km model (daylight hours, as in the verdict above); rain from the summit line’s forecast (the whole day). A tile is large when this top is past its line.

Wind on the top

Past the line

71 mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 57 mph times our exposure factor of 1.24. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 62 mph, before any exposure factor.

The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS (opens in new tab) describes what wind does to a walker across a range rather than at a line: from about 20–25 mph it starts to affect your balance.

Estimated: it is not calibrated against summit readings, and the two forecasts can disagree by more than a band.

Cloud on the top

Past the line

19 out of 100, the clear-top reading

Averaged over the daylight hours, from the forecast’s humidity and low cloud.

The line Our line: a clear-top reading under 20 out of 100, where our scorer says “summit likely clagged in”. There is no outside threshold to cite; it is our estimate. What cloud does to finding the way: navigating in cloud.

Not an observation: cloud lifts and drops within the hour.

Rain, and the becks

Past the line

20.0 mm of rain over the whole day, midnight to midnight

The same figure as the summit line above and the 7-day forecast.

The line Our line: 6 mm in the day, where our scorer counts a day as soaking. We read rainfall, never river levels: becks in spate.

Open-Meteo’s forecast. It says nothing about rain already in the ground.

Also checked cold: feels like −1 °C, no ice or snow forecast. Under a line is not the same as fine: it means only that these figures are under the lines we use.

Not in these tiles Lightning, river levels, snow or ice already lying, and the ground under your feet. A tile cannot see them, so an empty space here never means they are absent.

Snow figures with a second opinion: Powered by Met Office data

Full 7-day summit forecast ↓

Wainwrights are scored for walking conditions each morning from the Met Office’s UK forecast model, read for each summit through Open-Meteo; the forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Routes up Hart Side

Choose the way up before the car park: these two routes start from two places, and the last two rows give the parking and bus at each route’s own start. Full maps further down.

Compared	Hart Side, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, Watson's Dodd and more	Birketts above Ullswater
Starts from	High Row	High Cascades (NT, paid)
Distance and climb	21.89 km, 1,281 m of climb	16.45 km, 766 m of climb
Time, fast to steady	~6½–8¾ h	~4½–6¼ h
Scrambling	Not mentioned in the route’s notes	Not mentioned in the route’s notes
Exposure	Moderate	Not assessed
Navigation	Hard	Hard
Steepest stretch	Descent of about 32% at 16.6 km (Hard)	Descent of about 21% at 16.3 km (Moderate)
After the summit	Over Raise, Stybarrow Dodd, Watson's Dodd, Great Dodd and Clough Head	Over Birkett Fell, Brown Hills, Round How and Bracken How
Walked or planned	Walked by Lee, August 2023	Planned: drawn, not yet walked
Car park at the start	Low How (layby)	High Cascades (NT, paid)
Bus to the start	509, 1.6 km walk from Dockray, outside The Royal Hotel. The UB1 runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season.	509, 750 m walk from Dockray, outside The Royal Hotel. The UB1 runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season.

Times run from fast to steady pace (Naismith’s rule). Scrambling quotes each route’s own notes; “not mentioned” means they do not say, not that the ground has none. Each route’s page has its map, stages and GPX.

Distance, climb and the steepest stretch are measured from each route’s GPX track; the other grades are set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap, and each route page says which. How we check →

Is Hart Side hard to find?

That is the right question for this fell. Hart Side is a broad, indistinct grassy shoulder hung off the eastern Dodds, the top is gentle, and it is easy to misread in cloud — there is no moment where the ground tells you that you have arrived.

Its southern side is steeper and rougher than the summit implies. Our shorter round over it is 16.5 km with 766 m of ascent, and we grade its navigation hard against a steepness of only moderate — which is the clearest statement of this fell there is. It is less a climb than a map-reading exercise.

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 756 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast

Tue 27 Oct

10° / 4°

62 mph

20.0 mm (100%)

Wed 28 Oct

8° / 4°

49 mph

8.4 mm (100%)

Thu 29 Oct

8° / 6°

27 mph

0.7 mm (75%)

Fri 30 Oct

7° / 5°

24 mph

0.3 mm (8%)

Sat 31 Oct

6° / 2°

8 mph

3.3 mm (6%)

Sun 1 Nov

7° / 2°

12 mph

0.6 mm (2%)

Mon 2 Nov

5° / -3°

8 mph

0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for Hart Side

Parking

Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.

Low How (layby) — at the start of Hart Side, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, Watson's Dodd and more

0.7 km from Low How. Seen full by about 08:00 on a Saturday - Lee's own visit; a single sighting rather than a pattern.

Gravel parking area at Low How on an August afternoon, full of cars, with woodland behind Taken August 2023

Directions Something changed here?

High Cascades (NT, paid) — at the start of Birketts above Ullswater

Walking base for Low How, High Brow, Randerside and Great Dodd — the 'Birketts above Ullswater' route starts 21 m away. Fees: £6 for 2 hours; £8 for 4 hours; £9.50 all day. Compacted surface (OSM-tagged). Free for NT members (checked August 2026).

Directions Something changed here?

Glencoyne (NT, paid) — 2.9 km from summit (straight line)

At Glencoyne Bay on the A592, 1.9 km north of Glenridding. The nearest route starts are at Aira Force, among them 'Aira Force & Gowbarrow Fell', 1.9 km on foot. Fees: pay and display - the machine takes coins only, (LDNPA, checked August 2026).

Directions Something changed here?

3 more places to park near Hart Side

Swineside Knott (layby) — 3.0 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Swineside Knott (1.1 km), Brown Hills (1.1 km), Common Fell (1.5 km). Paid parking (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Low How, north-east (layby) — 3.0 km from summit (straight line)

Walking base for Hart Side, Green Side (White Stones - Green Side), Stybarrow Dodd and Raise — the 'Hart Side, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, Watson's Dodd and more' route starts 32 m away. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Brown Hills (layby) — 3.0 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Brown Hills (1.2 km), Glenridding Dodd (1.3 km), Swineside Knott (1.3 km). Free (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate.

Vehicles are left at their owner’s risk: we list places people park and cannot vouch for any of them. Take valuables with you and leave nothing on show.

Buses

The 509, 559 and UB1 stop at Dockray, outside The Royal Hotel, a 750 m walk from the start of Birketts above Ullswater — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: distance and navigation). The UB1 runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season. The last bus is 19:09 towards Troutbeck (UB1) and 18:02 towards Grasmere (559) and 16:12 towards Keswick (509), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 509

Penrith ↔ Keswick around Ullswater — calls at Pooley Bridge, Watermillock, Glenridding, Patterdale, Hartsop, Dockray, Matterdale, Mungrisdale and Threlkeld

Catch it from: Penrith · Keswick

The Ullswater side of the Penrith–Keswick corridor, and a second option where we previously showed only the 508. Reaches Helvellyn and Catstye Cam from Glenridding, Place Fell and Angletarn Pikes from Patterdale, the Hartsop fells, and Gowbarrow from Dockray. Frequency and season for the whole service are not listed here; where a stop's times have been checked, they are given above with the date. Note the Troutbeck on this route is the one on the A66 near Penrith, not the Troutbeck near Windermere.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat

Hazards on Hart Side

Hazard & Incident Information for Hart Side

Checked by Lee McCoy, 14 June 2026. Draws on published material from Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team. Editorial background, not a live callout feed.

Hazard: Moderate

An indistinct, broad grassy fell hung off the eastern Dodds above Glencoyne and Deepdale. The top is gentle and easy to misread in cloud, but its southern side falls away in the precipitous crags of Glencoyne Head, and the approaches cross rough, boggy, tussocky ground. The main hazards are navigation and keeping clear of the steep southern edge. Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.

Glencoyne Head crags (southern edge): The south side drops steeply in the cliffs of Glencoyne Head, with precipitous views east. Keep well back from the southern edge, especially in cloud or wind — the broad grassy top gives little warning of the drop.
Featureless summit & boggy approaches: The broad grassy summit (with a scatter of boulders and the small Hart Crag outcrop) has few features, and the approaches cross rough, boggy, tussocky ground where the path is faint. Navigate by compass in cloud and watch your footing.
Steep slopes into Deepdale & winter: Grassy slopes drop steeply into Deepdale to the north and west; in winter the open ground holds snow and the southern crags hold ice. Keep to gentler ground, and carry full winter kit when there is snow.

Who should attempt this fell: Hart Side is easy walking but indistinct — keep well back from the Glencoyne Head crags on its south side, and navigate the featureless top by compass in cloud. Expect rough, boggy approaches, mind the steep grass into Deepdale, and treat it as exposed winter ground when there is snow or ice.

What to watch for: Walkers straying toward the Glencoyne Head crags in poor visibility · Navigation errors on the featureless grassy top in cloud · Slips on steep grass into Deepdale, or floundering in bog on the approaches · Winter exposure and ice on the open ground and southern crags

Local Mountain Rescue: Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab)

Safety: Always check current conditions, carry proper navigation equipment, and seek qualified instruction before heading onto the fells. In an emergency, call 999, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Report incorrect information (opens in new tab)

Navigating in cloud

Serious in cloud

Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of near-level ground around the summit. A serious place to be caught in cloud: carry map and compass (or GPS) and know how to use them, or save it for a clear day.

In winter — snow, whiteout, cornices, buried features — every top demands full winter navigation skills whatever its band, and a broad, gentle summit can be the worst place of all. See walking in bad weather and the navigation guide.

How Hart Side compares with all 214: the Clag Index (experimental).

If you need Mountain Rescue

Dial 999 or 112 and ask for the Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Before you call, have ready: where you are (a grid reference if you can – the OS Locate app shows yours on your phone), what has happened, how many of you there are, and your mobile number.

Then stay where you are until the rescue team contacts you.

If you cannot make a voice call because of a hearing or speech impairment, emergency SMS works only if you have registered first: text “register” to 999.

From Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s guidance on calling them out (opens in new tab) (read 26 October 2026).

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).

Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.

Birketts within 3 km of Hart Side

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.

0.6 km EBirkett Fell725 m · Eastern

1.2 km SSWGreen Side (White Stones)794 m · Eastern

1.7 km NWRanderside729 m · Eastern

1.9 km EBrown Hills551 m · Eastern

1.9 km NNEHigh Brow575 m · Eastern

2.0 km ESwineside Knott553 m · Eastern

2.3 km WNWLittle Dodd (St John's Common)785 m · Eastern

2.4 km NELow How497 m · Eastern

2.4 km SEHeron Pike (Glenridding)612 m · Eastern

2.4 km ENECommon Fell552 m · Eastern

Routes over Hart Side

Birketts above Ullswater

Summits: Low How High Brow Randerside Great Dodd Stybarrow DoddHart SideBirkett Fell Brown Hills Round How Bracken How

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Picked for its light in: May

Warnings: Great Dodd: The wide grassy dome has almost nothing to fix on, and in thick cloud you may not see the cairn until you're on it. This is a notorious place to wander off line. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the top; don't navigate by the lie of the slope. Almost all grass with few features, the Dodds are a notorious place to go wrong in mist or whiteout — easy to drift off a vague bearing into the wrong valley. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the summit; don't navigate by the feel of the slope.

From the hazard notes for Great Dodd, each with its sources.

Route guide: Birketts above Ullswater →

Hart Side, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, Watson's Dodd and more

Summits: Birkett FellHart SideRaise Stybarrow Dodd Watson's Dodd Great Dodd Clough Head

Download GPX Walked by Lee, August 2023

Warnings: Watson's Dodd: The flat grassy top has almost no features and only a small cairn at its western edge — in mist it's easy to cross the plateau without finding the summit, or to leave on the wrong bearing. Navigate by compass and don't rely on spotting the cairn. Raise catches and keeps snow, and its slopes can be hard enough that step-kicking alone won't get you up or down safely. When there's snow or ice you need an ice axe, crampons and the skills to use them; the steep flanks toward Keppel Cove and Sticks Gill are unforgiving of a slip. Almost all grass with few features, the Dodds are a notorious place to go wrong in mist or whiteout — easy to drift off a vague bearing into the wrong valley. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the summit; don't navigate by the feel of the slope. Great Dodd: The wide grassy dome has almost nothing to fix on, and in thick cloud you may not see the cairn until you're on it. This is a notorious place to wander off line. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the top; don't navigate by the lie of the slope.

From the hazard notes for Watson's Dodd · Great Dodd, each with its sources.

Route guide: Hart Side, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, Watson's Dodd and more →

Every line here is a guide, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate for yourself and carry a map and compass. How to use this guide.

About Hart Side

Reached from Dockray or Glenridding, usually combined with Sheffield Pike for a fine Ullswater circuit. Its open, grassy summit plateau is pleasant walking on a clear day, offering an alternative to the Helvellyn ridges to the west.

Field notes

If anybody finds a black glove here, you're welcome to it. There must be thousands of singular gloves dotted around the Lakes. I went for a walk up here one August thinking the weather would turn nice - it didn't. I was clagged in from just a touch further around until the descent, and took my gloves off here because it offered a good view along Ullswater. It has a small but spritely cairn, though it would be mostly damp, I expect, for a sit down.

— Lee McCoy, who walked it on our Hart Side, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, Watson's Dodd and more route in August 2023

My Strava hikes over Hart Side

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Crappy Weather Up There But a Nice Leisurely Jaunt Up 6 Wainwrights (opens in new tab) — 22.1 km · 1105 m ascent · 5h 03m moving · 20 August 2023

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is Hart Side a Wainwright?

Hart Side is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Nuttall list and the Fellranger list.

Selected lists

756 m

Height

2,480 ft

In feet

NY 3590 1973

Grid ref

This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.

The summit is also a Birkett.

Lists, height and summit position from the Database of British and Irish Hills; the feet are converted from its metres and the grid reference from that position. How we check →

The view from Hart Side

The 360° skyline from Hart Side

A computed 360° skyline — every visible named top labelled by distance and bearing, from the terrain model in perfect clarity, not photographed. Drag to pan; reveal the far four-nations horizon.

drag to pan · arrow keys

The skyline as a list, by direction

North: Scales Fell (9 km), Atkinson Pike (9 km), Bannerdale Crags (10 km), Bowscale Fell (11 km)
East: Loadpot Hill (10 km)
South-east: Red Crag (10 km), The Knott (10 km), High Raise (11 km), Rampsgill Head (11 km), Caudale Moor (11 km), Stony Cove Pike (11 km), Low Raise (11 km), High Street (12 km), Thornthwaite Crag (12 km), Froswick (14 km), Ill Bell (14 km)
South: Helvellyn (5 km), St Sunday Crag (6 km), Gavel Pike (6 km), Fairfield (8 km), Hart Crag (8 km), Red Screes (12 km)
South-west: Stybarrow Dodd (2 km), Raise (3 km), Ill Crag (18 km), Broad Crag (19 km), Scafell Pike (19 km)
West: Watson's Dodd (2 km)
North-west: Great Dodd (2 km), Blencathra (9 km), Gategill Fell Top (9 km), Knowe Crags (9 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (12 km), Skiddaw Little Man (12 km), Skiddaw South Top (13 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (13 km), Skiddaw (14 km), Skiddaw North Top (14 km), Broad End (14 km), Bakestall (14 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: The Cheviot (115 km, England), Tinto (122 km, Scotland), White Coomb (97 km, Scotland), Ettrick Pen (89 km, Scotland), Culter Fell (114 km, Scotland), Wisp Hill (80 km, Scotland), Cauldcleuch Head (82 km, Scotland), Roan Fell (74 km, Scotland).

Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills v18.4 (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on Hart Side

Hart Side catches the sun before the valley does. On not one of the sixteen dates modelled does this summit wait for first light — the eastern horizon falls away rather than standing over you, and at midsummer the light reaches it 4 minutes before almanac sunrise.

Midsummer. The filled shape is the skyline as seen from the summit; the line is the sun’s path. Where they meet is first light — everything left of that point is the wait.

Times for 2026, in Lakeland clock time (GMT in winter, BST in summer) — and model outputs rather than observations.
	First light	Almanac sunrise	Difference
Midsummer	04:32 BST ±5.0 min	04:36	-4 min
Equinox	06:13 GMT ±5.0 min	06:15	-2 min
Midwinter	08:32 GMT ±5.0 min	08:33	-1 min

A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean -0.31°).

Last light — when the sun leaves Hart Side

Hart Side loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls on 1 May, when last light is 25 minutes before almanac sunset — 20:21 against 20:46. The sun goes down to the west-north-west from here (293.3°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 2.93°.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
	Last light	Almanac sunset	Difference
Midsummer	21:46 BST ±5.0 min	21:53	-7 min
Equinox	18:22 GMT ±5.0 min	18:26	-4 min
Midwinter	15:45 GMT ±5.0 min	15:48	-3 min

These are daylight figures, not a descent plan: the light goes on fading for a good while after the sun leaves, and going down in it is a decision about your own ground and party, not about this table.

What you can see from Hart Side

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.

49Wainwrights in view+9 marginal

37 kmFurthest sightlineGreat Dun Fell

—Sea in viewnone from here

Far horizons

Great Dun Fell North PenninesENE · 37 km clear
Cross Fell North PenninesENE · 36 km clear

All 49 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Stybarrow Dodd, Sheffield Pike, Great Dodd, Watson's Dodd, Raise, Clough Head, Birkhouse Moor, Catstye Cam, Helvellyn, Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit), Place Fell, Birks, St Sunday Crag, Great Mell Fell, Angletarn Pikes (Angletarn Pikes North Top), Beda Fell (Beda Head), Hallin Fell, Little Mell Fell, Fairfield, Steel Knotts (Pikeawassa - Steel Knotts), Brock Crags (Wainwright), Hart Crag, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Souther Fell, Rest Dodd, Hartsop Dodd, Bonscale Pike, Bannerdale Crags, Loadpot Hill, Wether Hill, Little Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top), Arthur's Pike, Lonscale Fell, The Knott (High Street), High Raise (High Street), Rampsgill Head, Middle Dodd, Bowscale Fell, Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), Red Screes, High Street, Thornthwaite Crag, Skiddaw Little Man, Froswick, Skiddaw, Carrock Fell, Ill Bell, Bakestall, High Pike (Caldbeck)

How the view from Hart Side compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

How the skyline, light and sightlines are computed

Computed, not photographed. First light is the first minute the sun’s upper limb clears this summit’s own skyline and last light the last minute it is still clear of it, both solved against the 360° horizon profile behind The View from Hart Side. Almanac sunrise and sunset are the flat-horizon convention. Every time carries a ± band from the 30 m elevation model — it smooths arêtes and cornices, so nothing here claims better than five minutes.

Sightlines from the Copernicus GLO-30 elevation model, which is a surface model: each 30 m cell holds the top of whatever stands there, trees and buildings included, rather than bare ground. Corrected for the Earth’s curvature and average atmospheric refraction. “Distant” sightlines and any over 100 km depend on exceptionally clear air. Modelled from Copernicus GLO-30 open elevation data — a guide to the view, not a guarantee of any single one.

Places to stay near this fell

Lowthwaite Bed and Breakfast (opens in new tab) guest houseabout 3.9 km
Low Gale (opens in new tab) self-cateringabout 4.4 km

We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).

Frequently asked questions about Hart Side

Is Hart Side hard to find? Answered above.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

Hart Side

Summit conditions on Hart Side

Wind on the top

Cloud on the top

Rain, and the becks

Routes up Hart Side

Is Hart Side hard to find?

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Parking & buses for Hart Side

Parking

Buses

Hazards on Hart Side

Hazard & Incident Information for Hart Side

Navigating in cloud

If you need Mountain Rescue

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Birketts within 3 km of Hart Side

Routes over Hart Side

About Hart Side

Field notes

My Strava hikes over Hart Side

Classifications & hill data

Is Hart Side a Wainwright?

Selected lists

The view from Hart Side

The 360° skyline from Hart Side

Sunrise and sunset on Hart Side

Last light — when the sun leaves Hart Side

What you can see from Hart Side

Places to stay near this fell

Frequently asked questions about Hart Side

Other fells near Hart Side